Beet harvesting and topping machine.



M. 8.,FOUTGH. BRET HARVESTING AND TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED HARM, 1913.

Patented June 16,191&

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M. S. POUTGH.

BEET HARVESTING AND TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED 111111 24, 1913.

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M. S. FOUTOH.

BERT HARVESTING AND TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED HARM, 1913.

,1,099,978. y K PatentedJune16,1914.

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COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, D c.

M. S. FOUTOH.

BEET HARVESTING AND TOPPING MACHINE. APPLIOATION'I'ILED MAILM, 1913.

1,099,978, Patented June 16,1914.

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M. S. FOUTOH.

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1,099,978.- Patented June 16,1914.

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M. S. POUTGH.

BEET HARVESTING AND TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.24, 1913.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MILLARD S. FOUTCH, OF KEARNEY, NEBRASKA.

BEET HARVESTING .AN'D TOPPING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MILLARD S FoU'roH,citizen of the United States, residing at Kearney, in thecounty ofBufialo and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Beet Harvesting and Topping Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to beet harvesting and topping machines, and hasfor its object, generally stated, the provision of an apparatus whichmay be drawn over a field and during its travel will uncover and take upthe beets, then sever the tops from the beets, and deliver the beets andthetops into separate receptacles.

A further object of the invention is to provide means by which the dirtwill be removed from the beets as the machine is drawn along the row sothat the uncovered beets will be subsequently taken up by uprootingmechanism practically free of soil.

A further object of the invention is to pro-- vide novel means forengaging the beets as the machine is drawn over the field anddeliveringthe beets to the topping mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to rovide novel means forseparating the eet tops from the beet bodies and conveying the separatedbodies and tops to different re ceptacles.

A further object ofthe invention is to provide means for adjusting theseveral parts to meet various conditions, and, finally, the object ofthe invention is to improve the construction andoperation, generally, tothe end that the efficiency and durability ofthe machine may beincreased.

These stated objects, and such other objects as will incidentally appearfrom the following description, are attained in a mechanism of the typeillustrated in the accompanying drawings, and the invention consists incertain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in theclaims following the description.

The accompanying drawings show what I now consider to be the bestembodiment of my invention, and in the said drawings: Figure 1 is a sideelevation of. the complete machine; Fig. 2 is an elevation looking atthe opposite side of the machine; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal verticalsection taken substantially through the center of the machine; Fig. 4 isa transverse vertical section taken on the line 4- 1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5is a Specification of Letters latent.

Application filed March 24., 1913.

Patented June 16, 1914.

Serial No. 756,576.

.diametricalsection of the means for taking .up the beets; Fig. 6 is anenlarged elevation showing the inner face of one of the beet-engagingwheels with the vibratory fingers .mountedthereon; Fig. 7 1s a detailperspective View showing one of the said fingers, the cam against whichthe fingers bear, and the spring-by which the fingers are held inengagement With said cam; Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail view of a portionof the gearing; Fig. 9 is a detail end view of the pulling rollers andthe guides leading thereto.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a main frame which may be of anydesired construction and is illustrated as consisting of ,upperand lowerside beams 1 and vertical posts or standards 2 connecting said side,beams at intervals. A bracket 3 is secured .upon the upper side beamsand BX- -.tends transversely of the machine to support va drivers seat4;, and a platform 5 is pro- .vided at the front end of the frame and issupportedby the front posts 2 and the intermediate posts nearest thesaid front posts, short supplemental beams or braces 6 being secured toand extended between the said posts at the side edgesof the platform soas to additionally support the same. The front end of the main frame issupported upon Wheels 7 mounted upon an axle 8 which is connected in anyconvenient manner;to a kingbolt-S) which rises through the upper andlower transverse beams .or sills lOof the frame. A pole or tongue 11 isconnected to the axle 8 to provide means whereby the machine may bedrawn over the field and steered. The rear portion of the main frame 'issupported upon wheels 12 which are-carried by the lower ends of anarched axle 13, said axle being slidably mounted in bearings 1.4 on theside of the frame and extending above and over the frame, as shown. Thewheels 7 and 12 will, of course, be set upon their axles at a greater orless distance apart according to the width of the rows.

of the levers and engage eyes on the arched axle 13 so that when theadjusting lever is vibrated the arched axle will be raised or loweredand, consequently, the frame will be supported at a greater or lessdistance from the surface of the ground. Then the lever is swung forwardto its greatest extent, the several operating instrumentalities will besupported free of m the ground so that the machine may then be drawnover a road or moved into a barn or storehouse without the mechanismoperating. A holding bar or rack 21 is provided at each side of the mainframe to engage the 5 side arms of the adjusting lever and hold the samein a set position.

J ournaled in the lower side bars of the main frame and extendingtransversely of the machine is a crank shaft 22 preferably 2 disposedsubstantially in the vertical plane of the drivers seat. Loosely hungupon the crank portion of this shaft are suspending rods or hangers 23having their lower ends 2 attached to the upper edges of scoops orshovels 24 which are curved inwardly toward the central longitudinalplane of the apparatus and are adapted to take into the earth at thesides of the row of plants and thereby scoop out a furrow in which thebeet-engaging fingers may travel. The lower inner extremities of thesescoops or furrow-forming shovels are connected with plows 25 which aredisposed longitudinally of the machine and have their front endsprojected slightly in advance of the front edges of the scoops.Supporting bars or beams 26 are secured to the upper edges of theshovels 24 and extend forwardly therefrom and are secured to a bracket27 which is rigid with the lower end of a vertically disposed crankshaft 28 journaled in the platform 5 and a transverse sill 29 secured toand extending between the front ends of the lower side beams 1. Theupper end of this crank shaft is provided with a handle member 30 whichextends rearwardly toward the drivers seat and is intended to bestraddled by the driver so that, b shifting his feet slightly, the crankshaft will be actuated and the supports 26 swung to either side so thatthe scoops 24 and the plows 25 will be caused to follow the row ofplants. Immediately in advance of the scoops or furrow formers 24, Isecure to the 5 supports 26 the hangers or brackets 31 which arepreferably somewhat resilient and have bearings 32 formed on their freeends, in which bearings are j ournaled the axles 33 of cutting disks 34which are disposed at an angle to the line of travel so that they willtake into the earth and cut away the soil in advance of the plows,throwing the same to one side so that the plants will be uncovered.

' The disks or cutters 34 may be adjusted in their bearings so as to runclose together or farther apart according to the size of the beets.Guide rods 35 are rigid with and extend rearwardly from the upper edgesof the plows and similar guide rods 36 are secured to the supports 26and extend rearwardly therefrom between and beyond the disks 34 and thescoops 24 above the plows and the guide rods 85, the purpose of theseguides being presently more specifically referred to.

A lever 37 is fulcrunied upon the platform 5 and plays in a longitudinalslot therein so that the driver may readily vibrate the lever whennecessary or desirable. The lower end of this lever is connected by alink 38 with the crank shaft 22 and it will thus be seen that when theupper end of the lever is thrown forward the crank shaft will be rockedrearwardly so that the disks or cutters, the plows and the scoops willbe lowered as indicated in Fig. 3, whereas, when the upper end of thelever is swung rearwardly, the crank shaft will be rocked forward andthe disks, the plows and the shovels or scoops will be raised to permitthe machine to be moved from field to field. A segmental holding bar orrack 39 is secured upon the main frame at the front end thereof and isadapted to be engaged by the said lever 37 so that the lever and theparts connected therewith may be held in any set position.

J ournaled in and extending between the standards 15 is a shaft 40having cam disks 41 secured rigidly thereto and spaced equally distantfrom its longitudinal center. A lever 42 is secured rigidly to one endof this shaft and extends forwardly adjacent the side of the main frameto a point where it may be easily manipulated by the driver in the seat4. A substantially vertically disposed rack or holding bar 43 isprovided on the adjacent side of the main frame to be engaged by thesaid lever and hold the same in any position to which it may be adjustedso that the said cams 41 may be adjusted to cause the beet-engagingfingers to open or close at the pro-per points to successfully take upthe beets and deliver the same to the topping implements. The camsconsist essentially of disks 44 secured rigidly to the shaft 40 andprovided upon their outer faces with annular ribs 45 disposed concentricwith the shaft and having a portion of their outer surface beveled orreduced, as indicated at 46. Loosely mounted upon the shaft 40 be tweenthe sides of the main frame and the longitudinal center thereof arewheels or annular frames consisting essentially of inner and outerannular members 47 and 48 spaced apart and joined at intervals by bolts4.) and by axially disposed bars or plates 50, an annular fulcrum rod 51being threaded through the said bars 50 and the bolts 49, as shown mostclearly in Fig. 6. The bolts 49 serve to secure the annular members 47and 48 rigidly together, while the spacing bars 50 serve to maintain thespaced relation of the said members and also define spaces within whichthe beet-engaging fingers or levers may be mounted. The beet-engagingfingers 52 are disposed radially around the entire circumference of thegathering wheels consisting of the members 47 and 48, The beetengagingfingers consist of rods 53 doubled upon themselves and having theirdoubled portions extending toward the central longitudinal plane of themachine. From the doubled portions the rods are curved outwardly andinwardly toward the gathering wheels and have their extremitiesdiverging and secured to boxes or frames 54 which are pivotally mountedupon the rods or rings 51. From the inner edges of the said boxes 54,rods or wires 55 extend inwardly and converge so as to be joined by acylindrical body 56 having a roller 57 mounted upon its inner end, thesaid roller 57 bearing against the annular cam rib 45, as clearly shown.The outer member of the gathering wheel is provided with a centralenlarge ment or hub 58 and from the said hub a series of guide pins 59extend axially inward and project over the outer annular face of theadjacent rib 45 at opposite sides of the rollers 57 so that the saidrollers and the beetengaging fingers with which they are connected willbe held in the radial planes in which they are mounted. To maintain theengagement of the rollers 57 with the annular cam ribs 45 I employ aseries of springs 60 which consist, in the illustrated arrangement, of acentral coil 61 and arms 62 diverging therefrom, the extremity of onearm 62 being secured in the hub 58 or some other permanent portion ofthe outer member of the gathering wheel and the extremity of the otherinner arm 62 being secured in the body 56 of the beet-engaging fingers,as shown.

In Fig. 7, a socket or opening 63 is indicated in the body 56 to receivethe end of the spring. It will be readily noted that I have shown aplurality of fingers 53 secured to each box or frame 54. By thusproviding a plurality of fingers in each compartment or division of thegathering wheel, I more effectually engage the plants, but it will beunderstood, of course, that the exact number of fingers is immaterialprovided the fingers are sufliciently close together to engage all theplants as the machine is drawn over the field and the entirecircumference of the gathering wheel is provided wit-h the engagingfingers. The shaft 40, as before stated, will be held stationary in thestandards 15 and as the gathering wheels are loosely mounted on the saidshaft they are free to rotate around the same and will be so rotated bythe engagement of the beets and the fingers. As the wheels rotate aboutthe shaft 40, the rollers 57 traveling upon the cam ribs 45 will bemoved to and from the inner member of the gathering wheel under thecombined influence of the springs 60 and the said cam ribs, as will bereadily understood, and, as the said cams are similarly arranged, theopposed beetengaging fingers will be moved toward each other as therollers reach the high parts of the cams and will swing away from eachother as the rollers travel on the lower parts of the cams. The camswill, of course, be so adjusted through the medium of the lever 42 thattheir high parts will be below and slightly in rear of the shaft 40,while the lower parts will be above and slightly in advance of the saidshaft, thereby permitting the fingers to approach as they reach the rowof plants and, consequently, causing them to firmly' engage and hold theplants so that the continued rotation of the gathering wheels will causethe plants to be uprooted, and, as the plants reach the toppingimplements, the fingers will be moved away from each other so that theplants will be released.

A tubular casing or frame 64 is arranged along the central longitudinalplane of the machine and is provided at its rear end with a dependingleg or bracket 65 which is fit ted over the shaft 40, as clearly shownin Fig. 8, the front end of the said casing being supported by theplatform 5 by having its upper portion resting directly upon the saidplatform, as also shown in said figure. An endless belt or oonveyer 66is arranged longitudinally within this casing to carry the topsseparated from the beet bodies forwardly and deliver the same onto atransverse conveyer or endless belt 67 which is mounted in a suitableframe 68 adjacent the front end of the main frame and inclineddownwardly toward one side of the same. The belt or conveyer 66 istrained around rollers 69 and 70 which are journaled in the sides of thecasing 64 at the rear and front ends thereof, respectively, and theroller 70 is fast to a shaft 71 which extends through the sides of thecasing 64 and is journaled in the intermediate posts 2 of the mainframe. A sprocket wheel 72 is secured upon the said shaft 7 l adjacentone end thereof and a sprocket chain 73 is trained around the saidsprocket wheel and a larger driving sprocket wheel 74 which is fittedloosely upon the shaft 40 and connected rigidly with the outer member ofthe adjacent gathering wheel by bolts or similar devices 75. As themachine is drawn over the field, motion will be imparted to thesprocket. wheel 74 which must follow the movement of the gatheringwheels due to the engagement of the fingers 52 with the plants and,consequently, the

sprocket wheel 72 willbe actuated through the chain 73 so that the upperrun of the iis conveyer 66 will travel toward the front end of themachine. The beet tops deposited upon said conveyer will, consequently,be delivered onto the conveyer 67 and, by the latter conveyer, will bedelivered at the side of the machine, where they may be depositeddirectly upon the ground or caught in a receptacle mounted on the sideof the machine or delivered onto a conveyer carried by a vehicle drivenat the side of the harvesting machine so that they may be expeditiouslygathered. Adjacent the sprocket wheel 72 a crown wheel 76 is mountedupon the shaft 71 and this crown wheel meshes with a spur pinion 77 onthe upper end of a vertical stub-shaft 78 which is journaled in abracket 79 secured upon a convenient part of the main frame. A. bevelgear 80 is fixed upon the lower end of the shaft 78 and meshes with asimilar gear 81 on the outer end of the upper roller of the conveyer 67so that when the machine is in operation the upper run of the conveyer67 will travel toward the delivery side of the machine.

I have illustrated the conveyer 67 as de livering into a basket or shelf82 consisting of a series of rods 83 projecting rearwardly from thelower end of a lever 84: which is fulcrumed upon the main frame andprojects upwardly at the side thereof to a point in advance of the seat4, the said lever being provided on its side adjacent the frame with alocking rib 85 adapted to engage a rack or holding bar86 on the side ofthe machine, as will be readily understood. The tops may be allowed toaccumulate within the basket 82 until a considerable quantity hasbeendelivered and the driver may then push rearwardly on the upper end ofthe lever 8 1 so that the basket will be tilted and the accumulated topsdeposited I upon the ground.

Secured to the opposite sides of the leg at the rear end thereof areguide rods 87 which extend downwardly from the said leg 65 and divergerearwardly to points adjacent the peripheries of the inner annularmembers 17 of the gathering wheels. The guide rods then extend upwardlyand forwardly concentric with the peripheries of said members 47 and asthey rise they approach each other so that the beet tops passing betweenthe said guide rods will be bunched and will pass easily into the spacebetween the pulling rollers 88. These rollers 88 are of an elongatedconical formation 'with their smaller ends at the rear and mounted insuitable bearings 89 provided on the guide rods 87. The forward ends ofthe rollers are supported in the rear end of the top member 90 of thecasing 64 and are equipped with pinions 91, which turn in oppositedirections so that the rollers will be rotated toward each other and,consequently, will pull the tops downwardly toward the ,carry cutters 99on their upper ends.

conveyer 66 so that they will drop onto said conveyer when severed fromthe beets. Motion is imparted to the pinions 91 by pinions 92 carried byvertical shafts 93 supported in suitable bearings on the side of thecasing 6 1, the said shafts being equipped with pinions 94 at theirlower ends. The pinions 94- mesh with pinions 95 on the rear ends ofshafts 96 disposed longitudinally in the upper portion of the casing 6 1and equipped with pinions 97 at their front ends. The vertical shafts 93carry rotary cutters 99 on their upper ends, the parts being so arrangedthat the said cutters will be close to the inner ends of the rollers 88and will cut across the stems of the beet tops so as to sever the samefrom the beet bodies. The pinions 97 mesh with the opposite faces of adouble gear wheel 100 which is fixed upon a transverse shaft 104:journaled in and extending through the sides of thecasing 6 1 at thefront end thereof and equipped at one end with a pinion 105 meshing withthe gear wheel 106 fixed upon the shaft 71.

The cutter shafts 93, as before stated, are journaled in the top of thecasing 6 1 ailid T 1e top of the casing is inclined downwardly andforwardly and upon the said downwardly and forwardly inclined top of thecasing are secured substantially vertical side plates 107 which preventthe beets from dropping off the top at the side edges. The top 108 ofthe casing 64L constitutes a chute through which the beet bodies maygravitate, and at its forward extremity this top plate or chute deliversinto a transverse chute 109 which extends downwardly to the same side ofthe frame as the conveyer 67 and is arranged above and in rear of saidconveyor 67. The bottom of the chute 109 terminates at the side of themain frame, while the side plates of said chute project laterally beyondthe frame, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4, so that the beets passingdownwardly through the said chute will drop into a receptacle mountedupon the side of the frame or may be delivered upon a conveyer by whichthey will be carried into a vehicle driven alongside of the harvester.In the drawings, I have illustrated a box 110 secured upon the side ofthe frame and having a movable bottom. The said bottom is preferablyconstructed in multiple and consists of four shelves or plates 111secured to and radiating from a shaft or pivot rod 112 which isjournaled in and extends between the sides of the box so that, whenbeets are being delivered into the box, one of the said shelves orplates will extend to the closed front end of the box and be theresupported by a spring latch 118. In this position, one of the shelveswill extend vertically upward at the rear of the box to form a closureat that side therefor, while the other shelves will extend,

respectively, downward and rearward from the box. The latch 113 may beof any convenient form, but is shown as a spring. secured to the frontside of the box and having its lower end extended under the box so as tosupport the free edge of the shelf which may be serving as the bottomfor the box. A link 114 engages the latch near its lower end and extendsforwardly therefrom to a depending crank arm 115 on a shaft 116 which isjournaled upon the main frame and is provided with a cranked portion 117between its ends, said cranked portion being engaged by a rod or pedal118 extending upwardly through the platform 5 in convenient position tobe pressed by the foot of the driver.

It will be readily seen that when the box has been filled with beets thedriver may press downwardly upon the pedal 118, thereby rocking theshaft 116 so that the link 114 will be moved forwardly and the latch113, consequently, withdrawn from under the free edge of the shelf whichwill then at once fall under the weight of the beets thereon so that thebeets will be deposited upon the ground or delivered into some othercontainer and a succeeding shelf will be brought into position tosupport the beets subsequently delivered by the conveyer 109. The beetbodies will tend to travel downwardly over the top plate 108 under theinfluence of gravity, but this travel may be facilitated by a feeder119. Such feeder consists of a body or block carried by the ends of arms120 pivoted upon and projecting rearwardly from the crank 121 of a shaft122 which is journaled in the bracket 3 and extends transversely of themachine. A sprocket pinion 123 is fixed upon the said shaft 122 at oneend of the same, and a sprocket chain 121 is trained around said pinionand a sprocket wheel 125 fixed on the shaft 71 at the side opposite thesprocket wheel 72. A reciprocatory movement will thus be imparted to theblock or body 119 so that it will be alternately moved in oppositedirections along the top plate 108' and the rear end of the said blockor body is beveled, as indicated at 126, so that upon the rearwardtravelof the body it will ride easily over the beet bodies which may then beupon the top plate. Upon the forward movement of the body, feeders 127carried thereby will engage the beet bodies and push the same along thetop plate to and into the chute 109. These feeders may be of anypreferred construction, but I have illustrated them as consisting ofplates bent into triangular form and pivoted at one angle within thebody, the plates beingextended forwardly from their pivots and havingone angle 'below the body and the remaining angle in position to beengaged by stop pins or rods 128 disposed transversely within the body.Upon the rearward movement of the body;

these feeders will swing up into the body to clear the beets, but on theforward movement of the body they will drop into engagement with thebeets so as to positively feed them into the delivery chute. The feedermay be raised from the top plate 108 by means of a lifter 129 which ispivoted to the top of the body and extends over and rests upon thebracket 3 withits end adjacent the seat 4. If the beets are travelingthrough the chutes with sufficient rapidity, the feeder. may be heldupward in such position that it will not engage the beets, but, shouldthe beets tend to accumulate in the chutes so as along the rowof plantsand as it travels the disks 341 will cut into the earth at the sides ofthe row so as to turn aside the dirt which is packed around the plants.Immediately in rear of these disks the scoops or furrowforming devicestravel so as to enlarge the l furrow partly formed by the said disks andexpose the plants so that they may be readily engaged by the fingers 52traveling in the furrow. The plows 25 will travel closesto the sides ofthe beets so that the dirt packed immediately against the beets will beeffectually cut away and a clean exposure of the beet bodies efi'ected.The front beveled ends of the plowsv will also take under the droopingbeet tops so that they will be lifted as the plows move forward and willbe directed to and between the guides 35 and 36v by which they will becompressed so that they will enter readily into the space between theuprooting fingers. The fingers 52 being: caused to travel in the furrowimmediately inrear of the plows will be disposed at opposite sides ofthe beets and through the action of the cams and springs hereinbeforespecifi-cal-ly described they will close around the beets, and, as themachine moves forwardly will exert a pulling force upon the beets so asto uproot them. The uprooted beets will be firmly held by the fingersand will be carried around to the pulling rollers 88- which they willapproach in an inverted position. As the beets are carried upwardly bythe fingers 52, the beet tops will pass between the guides 87 and willbe compressed so that they will enter readily between the pullingrollers 88 and as the opposed surfaces of these rollers are movingdownwardly they will exert a tendency to pull the beet tops from thebeet bodies. The fingers, however, will not yet release the beets, butwill continue to engage the same and move them forward to the cutters 99which will effectually sever the beet tops from the.

plants. 1 5

bodies. The fingers will then release the beets which will travelthrough the chutes and be delivered at the side of the machine, whilethe severed tops will drop upon the conveyer 66 and be separatelydelivered at the side of the machine, as before stated. It will thus beseen that the beets will be automatically taken out of the ground anddelivered into suitable receptacles free of their tops without anyattention upon the part of the driver who is called upon merely to drivethe draft animals and steer the same so as to keep the machine inposition over the row of The lateral movement of the supports 26 and theuncovering and furrowforming instrumentalities carried thereby is notexcessive and is intended to be only suflicient to keep said implementsin proper position relative to the row of plants notwithstanding anyslight irregularities in the movement of the machine as an entirety. Toprevent excessive movement of the said parts, stops 130 are provided onthe bottom ofthe conveyer casing 68 at opposite sides of the support 26.

It is to be understood that the details of construction herein disclosedare illustrative only and not restrictive and that various changes maybe made in the minor details without involving any departure from thespirit or scope of the invention as the same is defined in the followingclaims.

What I claim is l. A. beet harvester comprising rotatable gatheringwheels, plant engaging fingers carried by said wheels, means for causingsaid fingers to engage and release the plants, and means for varying thepoint of such engagement and release of the plants by the fingers.

2. In a machine for the purpose set forth, the combination of a mainframe, a shaft mounted in said frame, gathering wheels loosely fitted onsaid shaft, plant-engaging fingers carried by said wheels, cams fixedupon the said shaft and acting on said fingers to cause them to engageand release the plants, and means for shifting the said shaft and-thecams whereby to vary the point of engagement and release of the plants.

3. In a machine for the purpose set forth, the combination of a mainframe, rotatable gathering wheels mounted in said frame, plant-engagingfingers mounted within and projecting from said wheels, cams housedwithin said wheels and carried by the main frame and acting on saidfingers to cause them to engage and release the plants, and means housedwithin the wheels for maintaining the engagement between the fingers andthe cams.

4. In a machine for the purpose set forth, the combination of a mainframe, gathering wheels rotatably mounted therein, plantengaging fingerspivotally mounted within the said wheels and projecting from theperiphery thereof, cams housed within the wheels and acting on saidfingers, and springs housed within and secured to the wheels and actingon the fingers in opposition to said cams.

5. In a machine for the purpose set forth, the combination of a mainframe, gathering wheels rotatably mounted therein and each comprisingannular members and spacing devices extending between said members, apivot member extending through said spacing devices, plant-engagingfingers mounted on said pivot member between said spacing devices, andcams acting upon said fingers to cause them to engage and release theplants.

6. In a machine for the purpose set forth, the combination of a mainframe, gathering wheels rotatably mounted in said frame and comprisingannular members and spacing devices between said members, plant-engagingfingers pivotally mounted between said spaclng devices, cams within thegathering wheels, cam-engaging bodies secured to the inner ends of thefingers, and means for holding said bodies in engagement with the cams.

7. In a machine for the purpose set forth, the combination of a mainframe, gathering wheels rotatably mounted in the main frame andconsisting of annular bodies and spaclng devices extending between saidbodies, plant-engaging fingers pivotally mounted between said spacingdevices, cams within the gathering wheels, cam-engaging bodies connectedwith the fingers, means for holding said bodies in engagement with thecams, and axially extendin uides within the gathering wheels at oppositesides of said bodies.

8. In a machine for the purpose set forth, the combination of a mainframe, gathering wheels rotatably mounted therein and consisting ofannular bodies and spacing devlces connecting the same, a fulcrum memberextending through said spacing devices, boxes pivotally mounted on saidfulcrum member between the spacing devices, plantengaging fingersextending outwardly from sa1d boxes, cams within the gathering wheels,cam-engaging bodies connected to the inner edges of said boxes, andsprings secured in the gathering wheels and bearing against said bodiesin opposition to the cams.

9. In a machine for the purpose set forth. the combination of a pair ofgathering wheels, pulling rollers mounted between the wheels above theaxis thereof, and means for rotating said rollers in oppositedirections.

10. In a machine for the purpose set forth, the combination of a pair ofgathering wheels, guides arranged between the wheels and approachingeach other above the axis of the wheels, and conical pulling rollerssupported by the upper portions of said guides.

11. The combinatiOIl of a. pair of gathering wheels, pulling rollersdisposed between the gathering wheels, cutters arranged adjacent thepulling rollers, and connections whereby the rollers and the cutterswill be actuated by the gathering wheels.

12. The combination of a pair of gathering wheels, pulling rollersdisposed between the gathering wheels, cutters arranged adjacent thepulling rollers, means for con veying material from the cutters and therollers, and connections whereby said conveying means, the rollers andthe cutters will be actuated by the gathering wheels.

13. The combination of gathering wheels, cutters co-acting with saidwheels, a feeder to move plants from the cutters, and means whereby saidfeeder and the cutters will be actuated by the gathering wheels.

14. The combination of a pair of gathering wheels, top-pulling membersarranged between the wheels, and means for operating said members.

15. The combination of a pair of gathering wheels, top-pulling membersbetween ighe wheels, and a cutter adjacent said memers.

16. The combination of a pair of gathering wheels, top-bunching guidesarranged between the wheels, and top-pulling members arranged betweenthe wheels immediately adjacent the discharge ends of the guides.

17. The combination of a pair of gathering wheels, top-bunching guidesarranged between the wheels, top-pulling members ar ranged between thewheels immediately adj acent the discharge ends of the guides, and acutter arranged to act on the tops as they leave said pulling members.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MILLARD S. FOUTCH. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

N. P. MCDONALD, EMMA WVoLroRD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, .D. G."

